JOB OPPORTUNITY: Furniture Moving Part-Time

The Furniture Moving position is a part-time position for Saturdays and Sundays. This is an entry-level position with room to grow. The right person for this position will be on the best, hardest working team at an award-winning non-profit furniture store! As an economic development institution of the African People's Education and Defense Fund, the work we do every day is contributing directly to self-determination programs in the African community! To apply and for more information, click on the image. Or contact the Store Manager for an application and job description.

JOB and INTERNSHIP Opportunities at Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles

Click on the photo for more information.

VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER, 4th Quarter 2018

Congratulations to Deanna for winning 2018's Volunteer of the Quarter award for the 2nd Quarter! Deanna joined the Uhuru team in June and has been an important part of our sales team every Wednesday and Sunday since then. Some call her the "sales ninja" because she cleans, organizes and assists people so quickly and quietly! You turn around and the store looks beautiful and customers are happy. We've really needed quality sales assistance and Deanna fits this bill in every way. The whole team recognizes her numerous contributions and we're very happy to recognize her with this award. Congratulations Deanna!

VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER, 3rd Quarter 2018

2018's 3rd Volunteer of the Quarter goes to Rose Girard! If you're one of our many Thursday shoppers, you know Rose! Every Thursday she uses years of experience and knowledge to price new collectibles as they are unpacked. But something you may not know about Rose is that she's been volunteering with Uhuru Furniture for more than 10 years! Over these many years she has helped develop how we process and price our collectibles and artwork and how we can get the most for all the wonderful donations we receive. This kind of commitment and ongoing contribution to Uhuru Furniture and APEDF is really worth celebrating! Thank you so much Rose!!

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Full Time Sales Associate and Promo Distribution Associate

We are seeking a motivated sales and promo distribution associate to be part of the team contributing towards the success of Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles, a project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund. If you want to make a difference and be part of the movement for black community health, economic development and social justice, we are looking for you!

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Retail Sales

Participate in the team at Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles, a non-profit economic development project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund, making lasting changes to impact on the health, education, human rights and future of the African community. We are seeking interns to help with sales, customer service and building community relationships. Need not be a student to apply. All ages welcome. Click for more info.

Uhuru's Health Festival was a Grand Success!

The 4th annual Uhuru Health Festival, held 4/28/18, is just one of the programs of the African People's Education and Defense Fund that is putting the power of health and health care in the hands of our community. This is what you make possible by shopping, donating and volunteering at Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles!

Watch this broadcast on Facebook - click the image!

Black Power Blueprint UPDATES!

Thanks to you and the tremendous support from around the country, we are over halfway to our $25,000 goal! Every contribution is making a big difference! Keep spreading the word! Watch this powerful compilation video about the projects.

MLK Day 2018 A Success!

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped to make this year's MLK event powerful and meaningful. The program included historic footage of Civil Rights and Black Power Movement leaders as well as analysis from Uhuru Movement founder Chairman Omali Yeshitela. Volunteers then took to the streets distributed 1,500 flyers informing the community how to support African self-reliance programs!

APEDF's latest advancement: Black Power Blueprint!

What does black community power look like? Check out APEDF's latest undertaking: Black Power Blueprint! Revitalizing boarded up buildings in our community in St. Louis, fending off gentrification, building housing, community center, garden, kitchen, cafe, training and workforce program and more! Find out more at Uhuru Furniture - Donate today!

VIDEO: So much more than furniture...

Prices Slashed Storewide! Sneak Peek Video!

Uhuru Book Fair & Flea Market

Click to see video and pics!

APEDF Website Re-Design UNVEILED!

Click the image to check out the newly redesigned website of the African People's Education and Defense Fund - the Baddest Nonprofit on the Planet!

Volunteer! Sign up to attend one of our weekly new-volunteers orientations!

We won 'Best of Oakland and the East Bay' in the Oakland Magazine Contest 2017 (for the third time)

Health Disparities Faced by the African Community in Oakland, California

Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles is an economic development institution of the African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF). The mission of APEDF is to defend the civil and human rights of the African community and to address the grave disparities faced by the African community in the areas of health, healthcare, economic development and education.

What do we mean when we say "disparities"? Below are just a few of the statistics that expose the disparities faced by the African community here in the Bay Area.

(This is a sample of our findings. For a full packet of health statistics, visit the store and see the sales desk.)

- African people have the highest rates of hospitalization for hypertension.

- From infancy to 64 years, African people die at rates at least two times higher than white people.

- African people have the highest rates of death from all cancers as well as unintentional injury of anyone in Alameda County.

- African people have the second highest rates of death from heart disease, stroke and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Pacific Islanders have the highest rates.

- African people in Alameda County have the lowest life expectancy of any group at 74.7 years of age and African men as a group have an even lower life expectancy at 71.1 years. This is compared to 86.7 years in Piedmont.

- African people experience the most premature death of any group in Alameda County by far. Homocide, cancer and heart disease are the leading causes.

- The infant mortality rate is the number of babies who die before their first birthday per 1,000 live births. This measure is often used as a benchmark of how healthy a community is, partly due to the great loss to society and partly due to complex interplay of factors that cause infant mortality. While Alameda County has relatively low infant mortality rates, the African community has infant mortality rates almost twice as high as the county average and much higher than any other racial/ethical group.

- A baby born at 2,500 grams or less is considered to be low birth weight (LBW). LBW is associated with a host of lifetime health concerns. The LBW among African people is considerably higher than any other racial or ethnic group.

- The prevalence of diabetes is 36.1% among Indigenous people and African people have the second highest prevalence at 11%.

- African people in Alameda County have the highest hospitalization rates for chronic diseases including diabetes, coronary heart disease, severe mental illness, stroke, congestive heart failure, asthma and asthma in children under 5.

- African people are diagnosed with HIV at a far higher annual rate than any other racial/ethnic group in Alameda County at 50.9%.

- African people have the highest percentage of people with disabilities than any other group in Alameda County.

- The residents of East Oakland inhale some of the most polluted air in the Bay Area, which makes it more likely to develop asthma and other respiratory problems.

- Rates of asthma for African children in Alameda County are 2.5 times higher than the overall rate in the county.

African self-reliance is the only solution. Help put power in the hands of the African community to bridge these grave disparities our community faces in health. Support Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles and the annual Uhuru Health Fair. Donate at www.APEDF.org.

Shop on Amazon?

If you shop on Amazon, you can choose for Amazon to give a portion of the profit from your purchase to the African People's Education and Defense Fund! It's easy, click on the pic above and choose your charity: African People's Education and Defense Fund. Thank you!

Thank you for joining us in celebrating African Liberation Month this past February!

African people have resisted their capture, exploitation, genocide, enslavement and oppression fiercely for the last 600 years. In February we looked back at courageous African leaders and the powerful victories of organized African resistance as well as the current movement for the liberation of African people in the U.S. and around the world.

Thank you supporters! We WON the Oakland Magazine's 'Best Furniture Store' three years in a row!

Thank you supporters! We love you too!

Group Volunteer Opportunities

Distribute door hangers - Get fresh air while working with other people to support Black community social justice!

We are members of:

Did you know an estimated 9.8 million tons of furniture goes into landfills each year?

Green America certified The African People’s Education and Defense Fund as one of its first nonprofit "Green Business Allies". Donating your gently used furniture or choosing to shop at Uhuru Furniture is helping to recycle those items!

We pick up your tax deductible donations... fast! 510-763-3342

Please refer others to like us also.

Current Volunteer Opportunities at Uhuru Furniture:

Keeping Oakland in the Black (Community Voices)

An SFGate article about an effort to encourage our community to support independent, local businesses with their dollars.

The Economic Crisis Isn't Colorblind

"As is true with so many aspects of American life, when it comes to the impact of the economic crisis, race matters. According to the Pew Research Center, the median wealth of white households has grown to 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households. The report noted the historic significance of such pronounced inequality, as the gap is the largest since such data collection started over a century ago." Click on the pic to read this Huffington Post article from 9/7/12..

Check out these other programs!

Education Worse Since Desegregation? - Marian Wright Edelman on community control of schools

Click on the picture to see the video.

Foreclosures can make you sick, report says

A telltale article from the SF Chronicle links foreclosure rates to worsened health conditions in the African community in Oakland, CA and is indicative of how the subprime crisis in black communities across the country is deepening. Click the picture to read the article.

testimonials

"With a little perusing, this is a great place to find some decent quality, gently used furniture at a reasonable price. If you're lucky you might even be able to find some quality steals." -- Gary L.

"Used furniture and housewares in great condition arrive nearly everyday, and bargain hunters like myself buy the furniture like hot funnel cakes at a carnival!"-- Vera D.

"The staff is super friendly and I love that their stock is constantly changing. Sometimes that sucks, though, because I'll see something great and then before I can make up my mind about it it's gone. Sigh."-- Vandana M.

"Over the years my family has donated and shopped here. Some of the furnishing in my college apartment were selected from the hodge podge here. I really support the idea of recycling furniture."-- Nikki C.

"Uhuru reflects the history of Oakland in many ways - from furnishing of local styles to continuity with the Black Panthers 'do for yourself' program. One of the coolest spots in the Bay Area." -- Bill C.

"It's wonderful. I'm volunteering at Uhuru Furniture and ever since I came in the store and found out what Uhuru stands for and how it helps the community I was totally shocked. I found out about the program and I think it's great that the store and Uhuru House are doing so well. Thanks for letting me be a part of your program." -- Kandi G.

"The spirit moves in this community of activists. Donate everything -- your time, your money, your furniture." -- Sally M.

"Be sure to buy a vegan blackberry pie at their annual holiday pie drive. It will be a spiritual experience!" --Alexis M.

"I especially like the way in which knowledgeable workers in the store put their heads together and decide on prices." -- Judith S.

"I have bought many furniture items at Uhuru. My group of friends and I visit the store almost every Friday afternoon before going to dinner."-- Gabi B.

"We have procured some fine solid cherry wood pieces for bargain prices and are always on the lookout for more at this socially responsible establishment. We have also donated items we no longer wanted to bring it full circle." -- Tracy A.